Alex's POV
I awoke at around 8 AM, the birds chirped their sweet, slightly irritating tunes; the sunlight slipped through the cracks of the blinds; the air was cold and hair-raising. The faint birdsong and the gentle, delicate breathing of the girl tucked tightly under my arm were the only sounds I could hear as my eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the light of day. We were in the spare room, the walls white and bare, the floor covered in Olivia's spilt luggage.

Last night was almost a blur, everything had happened so fast. The only thing I remembered in detail was being with Olivia last night. I know I did some other stuff, much more dumb stuff, but it didn't rank as highly on my to remember list as our night of passion did. Being with Olivia was just that; pure, unadulterated passion.

It was so strange, being with Olivia now. I had been sure back in high school that I knew everything about her; I was sure I knew everything there was to know about love and emotions and sex, but the past couple nights had made me realise I hadn't known the half of it. It was so odd to me that, whilst I had known Olivia for a long time and known her well, knowing her now was like knowing someone so similar, yet so different.

She had always been beautiful, but now was she was elegant; she was sophisticated; she was classy; she was a dream. She'd always been funny, but now she was hysterical, silly, ridiculous. Had always been caring, gracious, kind, helpful, but somehow, now, she was so much more. Of course, she had never not been these things, but now they were so much more clear; so much more her. She just radiated light and it was incredible to be able to bask in that light.

I had been watching her this entire time, watching as her eyelids flitted a little in her dream-filled sleep; watching her lips twitching ever-so-slightly into the occasional smile – it was hard to believe she was a real person, she was so beautiful.

I didn't dare move, just in case I woke her, but also because I was enjoying watching her sleep. She sniffled a little, her nose twitching, before she let out a childlike yawn, moving her hand up to cover her mouth as she did so. Stirring some more, she rolled over onto my arm and stuck her face into a pillow, groaning at the idea of getting out of bed. I chuckled and used the arm she had now pinned beneath her naked body to nudge her a little. She was so petite I could've easily just lifted her up, but I decided to be nice. My little nudge earned a louder groan from the blonde, I exhaled through my nose in response.

"Good morning," I murmured, my voice still groggy and raspy with sleep. Waking up with her felt so comfortable, like we'd been doing it for years, and yet it also felt so exciting.

She rolled back over and looked up at me, a lazy smile on her face. "Good morning," she whispered back, her arms wrapping around me, her head back on my chest, snuggling into me.

"I was just about to go fix us some breakfast," I chuckled, referring to the fact she'd just latched herself onto me.

"Nope, nope, nope," she shook her head playfully, her hair tickling my chin. I shook my head and tsked at her. She looked up with an effortless grin on her face, evidently pleased with herself.

I leaned down and covered her lips with mine, one of my hands moving up to find her face, as she shifted upwards a little to meet me. The kiss was a lot different from the other kisses we had shared, it was a lot softer and calmer, compared with our other more impatient, ravenous kisses. It was just our lips meeting, innocent and casual. I pulled away, grinning from ear to ear, and pecked her lightly again, "Move," I mouthed against her lips; barely audible.

Laughing, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled her body up so that she was lying on top of me, her whole body holding me against the bed, "nope," she popped the 'p' teasingly and meshed her pink lips against mine once more. This kiss a little more consequential, a little more eager. I could feel her smiling against my mouth, before she pulled back to look at me; her piercing blue eyes pouring into mine as she took me in, nibbling at her lower lip. I had no idea what she was thinking, but I could guess, because I felt it too.

My lips twitched up into a side smile at her, she was so adorable and cheeky, it was hard to resist. I rested my palms against her hot, pink cheeks and pulled her face a little closer to mine, "breakfast," I stated, raising my eyebrows at her, reminding her of what I had wanted to go do. She whined a little, the noise weak and tired, as she buried her face into my neck, leaving delicate little kisses whilst she was there. "Alright, that's it," I joked, acting as though this was the last straw. I grabbed her at the curve of her behind and sat up, pulling her into my knee in the process. Her legs instinctively wrapped around my waist so that she was now straddling me, her arms still around my neck.

Standing up and lifting her up higher around my waist, I earned a slight squeal from her, her head burrowing further into my neck as she giggled a little. I placed both hands on her ass, keeping her in place – strictly, that was the only reason, I swear – and began making my way down stairs as she continued to squeal. "We're naked," she kept protesting, giggling into my ear, causing goosebumps to prickle across my body.

"Yeah, well, that's what you get," I teased as I set foot in the kitchen and sat her down on the counter top. I rested my palms on either side of her bare legs, hovering over her, taking in her body for what felt like the first time again. It was odd; seeing her nude always felt like when I had seen her in that auditorium, ready to be drawn. Her body was like mobile art, it was such a thing of beauty, so breathtaking, and yet it was real and in front of me.

"What a punishment..." she purred, her face a couple inches from mine, her breath licking at my face. I gulped, trying to remain cool. She began planting soft, butterfly kisses along my jawline, causing my breath to shake as I exhaled deeply. She continued her teasing for a little while, moving down to my neck and gently kissing and nibbling at certain spots.

As her lips found my earlobe, gently pulling on it with her teeth, I decided that the only way to get revenge was to tease her right back. I took one hand and grazed between her legs, feeling her. I heard her gasp quietly, her lips brushing against my ear. I slowly entered a finger into her, she was already soaking; her breath hitched in her throat and her body stiffened. I felt her hands snake around my back, her nails digging into my skin as I moved my finger in and out of her tight entrance, painfully slowly. She groaned in anticipation and pulled me further to her, trying to encourage me to quicken my pace – but I didn't. I continued like that for a while, before sliding another finger into her – earning another moan – and using my thumb to put light pressure against her clit; her breathing heavy in my ear.

One of her hands found my hair and tugged lightly, whilst her other hand felt like it was close to drawing blood from my back. I quickened my pace a little, rubbing circles around her bud and thrusting my fingers in and out of her. Her lips found my shoulder and she bit down hard, trying to muffle her moans, but failing. The pain she was was inflicting on my shoulder caused me to quicken my pace further, my actions becoming more sloppy and vigorous.

I could feel her beginning to tighten around me as she flung her head back in pleasure. "Alex..." she groaned; this sound was slowly becoming my kryptonite. I leaned into her exposed neck and planted rough kisses along her tanned skin. Feeling her begin to convulse beneath me, I knew she was close. I took this opportunity to lean down and tease her nipple between my teeth, which evidently pushed her over the edge. Moaning loudly, she came around my fingers, her legs shaking and her toes curled.

Slowly, I removed my fingers from her and watched as her eyes slowly fluttered open; a mixture of pleasure and irritation – from my beating her at her own game – in her eyes, her cheeks pink in embarrassment. I decided to tease her further by bringing my fingers up to my mouth and sucking them clean, slowly; she watched me intently, her eyes dripping with desire and her mouth slightly ajar at my cockiness. I leaned in closer to her, "I'm gonna make breakfast now," I whispered, my voice dripping with pride and raw sexuality as the corner of my mouth twitched into a smug smirk.

"You... are a bad man..." she breathed, pushing me away with her feet, her voice laced with frustration as she hopped down from the counter and shoved me again. I chuckled, her weak attempts barely moving me an inch. "I'm going to take a shower," she huffed, folding her arms across her chest as she stormed out of the room in mock-anger. I laughed to myself, my ego well and truly boosted by the interaction, and went to grab some eggs from the fridge.

"Put those on, ya hippy!" I heard her yell from the stairs as a pair of underwear flew across the kitchen floor, whilst I cracked an egg into a frying pan. I caught her cheeky grin as she hurried back up the stairs; still naked herself, and shook my head – she was pretty adorable.

After about an hour and a half, I had put on the Calvin Kleins she had thrown me, eaten breakfast and I was now stood over the sink, washing my dishes up, when she re-emerged in the doorway. "Damnnnn," she extended the word, staring appreciatively at my ass. The clicking of her heels, topped with her approving words caught my attention and I glanced up at her. She was dressed in a cute, little tartan skirt, paired with a black blouse, a pair of cute, heeled booties and covered with a huge, red coat which passed the length of her skirt – luckily she was also wearing tights or she'd freeze to death. "You're really working that look," she giggled, sarcastic, but I could tell from her gaze that she was genuinely enjoying the view.

Chuckling, I placed a hand up on my hip and stuck my butt out further; posing for her. "Ya think?" I asked, playfully, looking down to examine myself.

She walked closer to me, her smile growing, giggling a little, and grabbed my face between her hands, pulling me down slightly to meet her level, "definitely," she breathed into me, attaching her lips to mine in a tender, soft kiss. Kissing her like this was so exhilarating, although there were no connotations behind it, it was exciting, it felt like, in some way, we were together and just kissing how couples do – casual and expected.

I pulled away slowly, savouring the taste of her soft lips against mine. Holding her out at arms length, I took a long look at her, glancing up and down her body, nodding in approval, before meeting her eyes. "Where do you think you're going dressed like that?" I joked with a wink, before letting go of her. She giggled a little and went over to grab an apple from the fruit bowl on the dining table.

"Samuel flies home tomorrow," she explained, taking a bite from the fruit in her hand, "so I figured I would spend a little time with him before he leaves," she said, her eyes still on my ass.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, playfully snapping my fingers to draw her attention back to my face, "I'm not a piece of meat," I protested jokingly, causing her to laugh, blood rushing to her cheeks at my having caught her.

"Shut up," she mumbled, "but, for the record," she began, holding a finger up, implying I listen carefully, "Samuel would love this view," she smirked.

I shook my head and turned back to the dishes, "you always have to make everything weird," I muttered under my breath teasingly.

"Yep," she laughed, skipping up behind me and planting a kiss on my cheek, squeezing my ass gently, which I turned and glared at her for.

"Oh!" I let out, remembering something I had wanted to ask her, just as she was about to step out the front door. She turned back, curious, and made her way into the kitchen again, "I meant to ask..." I trailed off. I was a little nervous about bringing this up, but it had to be done and I wasn't about to do it without her knowing, "Lisa's been blowing up my phone, all last night and this morning," I began, drying my hands on a dish cloth, trying to appear like it was no big deal. Olivia hummed in acknowledgement, folding her arms across her chest, anticipating what I had to say.

"...And I figured I should go speak to her, face to face, yano?" I rambled a little. It was the right thing to do but I wasn't sure if Olivia would be okay with it. She stood up a little straighter, and gulped a little, her eyes not giving away any expression, "It wouldn't be right to just text her or call her and explain..." I shrugged, nervously smiling.

"No, yeah, totally," Olivia agreed, nodding, seemingly unphased. She sent me a reassuring smile, but I could tell part of her was still a little uncomfortable with the idea. I walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "...but you better not go dressed like that," she said deadpan, making light of the situation.

I pulled back and gave her a look of fake shock, "what the hell am I gonna wear now?" I asked, sarcastically, earning a giggle from her as I pulled her back into the hug, planting a kiss on the top of her head. She leaned up, her neck practically at a right angle, and I leaned down to meet her lips firmly, chuckling a little at the height difference between us.

"Okay, I gotta go," she breathed between small pecks at my lips, smiling wide. I watched and waved as she hurried out of the door, she radiated happiness as she gave me a small wave back and closed the door behind her.

It was safe to say, I was smitten with Olivia; absolutely head over heels for the woman. Everything about her was so wonderful and desirable; her mere presence was so warm and inviting, being around her was such a joy – I really had lucked out. I felt like everything was going so well, that it was just inevitable that something bad would happen soon, and maybe that would lie within my visit to Lisa later today. I sighed thinking about it, my tone coated with dread. I knew I had to go see her; explain why I had been such a dick, and doing that over the phone just felt rude and disrespectful. She deserved some honesty, whether she liked it or not.

I took a quick shower, ran a razor over my slowly growing stubble and got dressed into just a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt, topped with an overcoat to keep me warm. I was incredibly nervous as I started up my car, sweat pooling in my hands as they slipped around the steering wheel. As per usual, I hadn't planned out what I was going to say to her, all I knew was that I was going to apologise as quickly as possible and then leave, hopefully no longer harbouring any guilt.

Pulling up outside of Lisa's house, I was partially shocked I still remembered where she lived; a very homely looking apartment complex with a shared yard out front where residents were growing fruits and vegetables. I felt my heart rate increase as I made my way to the entrance of the complex and held down the little buzzer for Lisa's floor. "Hey, Lis, it's Alex," I spoke into the box, my voice low, trying to indicate that I wasn't here on happy terms.

"Uh... hey! Come on up!" she beamed, sounding a little shocked to hear my voice but also clearly not picking up on my tone.

Once in her apartment she dragged me out onto her balcony – which she rambled on about how she'd just bought new furniture for it – and offered me a glass of wine, already holding a glass for herself in one hand. I politely declined as she sat me down on one of the deck chairs out on the balcony, she pulled another one way-too-close to me and sat down, looking at me expectantly, seeming excited to see me. "So... what's up?" she finally asked as I played with my fingers, nervous and in thought.

"I just... wanted to..." I was stuttering, stalling for time as I tried to piece together what I wanted to say, "It didn't mean anything, when I invited you out last night," I finally got it out, offering her a sad smile. Her face shifted a little in confusion, before she tilted her head at me, clearly not grasping what I meant. "Look..." I grabbed one of her hands in mine, in a way of comforting her, "I'm sorry if you thought it was a date or it had any romantic connotation behind it, because it didn't," I explained, squinting, hoping she understood.

She pulled her hand from me and sat back in her chair, hurt and a little shocked, "Oh," she breathed and it was silent for a couple seconds.

"It was a cruel thing to do..." I continued, hoping to make her feel better by reminding her how bad I felt – which I did, I felt terrible. "You know Olivia?" Her expression was bleak. "Well, I have feelings for her... and I just kinda wanted to make her jealous," I rambled, scratching the back of my neck uncomfortably, "and it was a really shitty thi-" I was cut off by the feel of Lisa's small lips planting on my own forcefully, she gabbed the back of my neck and pulled me to her aggressively. Quickly, I pushed her off me as gently as I could, looking at her like she was crazy. "What the fuck?"

"She's engaged, Alex!" Lisa exclaimed, her hand on my upper leg, "We could actually be together," she continued, her eyes widened, making her look a little questionable in terms of her mental health.

"No," I removed her hand from my jeans, "me and Olivia are kind of a thing," I explained, air quotes around thing. I knew I shouldn't have said that, even though Lisa knew nothing about our situation, it still felt like a bad choice to admit that; like it should stay a secret.

Lisa looked shocked as she took a sip of her wine, shaking her head. Before I knew it she was on her feet and dragging me to the front door, cursing my name and telling me to go to hell. The last thing I saw was her flipping me the bird before the door was slammed in my face. Well, I guess I deserved that.

It was around 9:30 PM when Olivia returned home. I was sat in the living room typing up some new song lyrics onto my laptop; the light projected from both the MacBook on my lap and the TV screen playing the news on low volume, were the only only things omitting light in the room. Something about a dimly lit room just made me feel a lot more cosy and at home, and it also helped me to focus on my work.

"Hey," she greeted as she threw her jacket over the back of a chair and slipped out of her boots. I looked over and smiled; taking her in for the umpteenth time – her beauty just never got old.

"Hey," I responded as she made her way over to me. She curled up on the couch beside me, bringing her feet up next to her and she fell into my side, her body fitting perfectly against mine.

"Watcha doin'?" she asked playfully, eyeing up the work I was doing on my laptop. I quickly shut the lid and she pouted at me, "What? I can't see?" she asked, mock-sadness in her puppy dog eyes.

"Nope," I popped the 'p' light-heartedly, placing one hand on her cheek and pulling her into a firm yet passionate kiss; no tongue, just our lips dancing together, "how was your day?" I finally asked once we'd pulled away.

"Oh, it was great," she enthused, "We went to Rian's restaurant," she explained, wiggling her eyebrows, I smiled in amusement, "it was gorgeous," she gushed, rolling her eyes back at the thought of the delicious food she had eaten.

"Did he give you a discount?" I asked, moving my laptop to the coffee table and turning my body to face her a little more.

"Oh, yeah," she grinned, "but it was very secretive, Samuel didn't even notice," she raised her eyebrows, showing she was impressed with Rian's ability to deduct money sneakily.

"Yeah..." I chuckled, "he's a good guy."

"So... how did your date with Lisa go?" she asked jokingly, but her face still hardened at the mention of her name.

"Uh..." I trailed off, looking away awkwardly.

"On a scale of 1 to 10? – 10 being extremely messy," she asked deadpan.

"12," I laughed at her scale and she gasped in amusement at my response, "yeah..." I rubbed at the back of my neck, "I explained everything to her and well, there was a lot of swearing, a lot of flipping me off and throwing me out," I responded, smiling at her as she giggled at my story, covering her mouth adorably, "Oh, and she kissed me," I muttered under my breath as quickly as possible, hoping she wouldn't catch it.

"What?!" she exclaimed, her eyes suddenly wide and alert.

"What?" I responded, mock-confusion.

"What did you just say?"

"Swearing, flipping me off, throwing me out..." I listened off sheepishly, squinting in anticipation for her response.

"After that?" Her voice was cold.

"Andshekissedme," I reeled off at lightning speed, looking away from her.

"Alex..."

"Okay, fine," I exhaled, turning to look at her, "she kissed me, but I pushed her away, she was just sad and desperate and-and that's what happened at that party too! She kissed me and I was about to pull away but you caught us at a very bad time and-" I rambled.

"You didn't kiss her back?" Olivia questioned, cutting me off and raising an eyebrow at me.

"No," I shook my head furiously, "Of course not," I furrowed my brow; the thought ludicrous to me.

"That's alright then," she yawned, her head falling onto my shoulder as she wriggled in attempts to get comfortable. I was a little shocked that she was so cool with it, but maybe that was because she was too tired to be angry.

"You tired?" I chuckled, clearly asking the obvious.

"Mmmhmm," she hummed into my shoulder and soon enough the room was filled with the faint sounds of her breathing.

Smiling wide, I carefully removed myself from under her, catching her before she fell down onto the couch. Carrying her bridal style, I made my way up the stairs and into her room. I didn't want to lay her down in my bed, I didn't want to seem too forward and potentially make her feel uncomfortable – just because we had slept together didn't mean I was going to force her into couple-y things. Gently, I laid her down in her sheets and covered her up, she looked like an angel when she slept, which I felt was unfair since every other regular human looks completely gormless when they sleep.

"Alex..." she mumbled in her half-asleep state, her arms came out to wrap around my neck and pull me into her – was this just a thing she did? She planted a subtle kiss on my lips, "You're gonna stay, right?" she murmured against my lips, her eyes still closed but a small smile on her face.

I gulped and exhaled a little through my nose; I hadn't expected her to want to just share a bed, casually with me; no underlying, sexual reason, but I smiled at the fact that she did. "Sure..." I breathed, sliding in beside her and pulling her to me. Her head found it's usual spot on my chest and her arm wrapped around me, hugging me close to her as I did the same, encircling her in my own tight grasp.

"Alex..." she repeated, her voice so gentle and delicate.

"Yeah?"

"I really like you..." she answered quietly, clearly drunk on sleep but her voice so sweet and sincere. And with that, her hands went limp and her breathing slowed – indicating sleep had overcome her.

I chuckled a little, biting my lip, "I really like you too..." I murmured back to her, despite her state of unconsciousness, but I felt the need to return it to her, because it was true and I was so unbelievably thankful she felt the same way. It felt like a dream, lying there, breathing in her floral scene as she snuggled into me; such a dream that I knew nothing my own sleeping mind and state of relaxation could create would ever compare, but I let it wash over me regardless. Going to sleep with a smile on my face had somehow became a routine for me, and I hoped it never came to an end.

Notes

olivia's outfit